UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price Up 1.8% - Here's Why

Key Points

• UnitedHealth Group's stock price increased by 1.8% to $360.17, with trading volume rising by 5% compared to its average daily volume.
• Recent analyst ratings have been mixed, with Bank of America raising its price objective to $325 while Baird R W downgraded the stock to "strong sell."
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $2.21 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 2.5% and a payout ratio of 38.30%.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 1.8% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $368.00 and last traded at $360.17. Approximately 13,447,159 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 5% from the average daily volume of 12,822,436 shares. The stock had previously closed at $353.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Baird R W downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $418.00 to $310.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $337.00 to $352.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $358.95.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.8%

The company has a market cap of $326.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.47. The business's fifty day moving average price is $307.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $355.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. UnitedHealth Group's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.80 EPS. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. Research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 38.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $47,519,620,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $13,537,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,312,182 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $6,624,411,000 after purchasing an additional 675,075 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,837,207,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 117.7% in the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 8,750,560 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $2,729,912,000 after acquiring an additional 4,730,192 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.

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